Grace And Peace To You,
Debt as of 06/09/2012: $92,645.00
Debt as of 12/15/2013: $42,372.31
Total Debt Paid Down: $50,272.69!!!!
OK, so I'm going to try and summarize, in this post, why we are not Big Bear Budgets anymore. Here we go! A little over a year ago, inspired by many stories my wife and I read or heard about people paying off their debt, I somehow convinced her that we should publicly share all of our debt numbers and blog about the process (an idea I still think my father is convinced I 'm crazy for doing).
Well, in my head that sounded like an awesome idea. I would post and the world would read . . . "back to life . . . back to reality." My friends would probably tell you that I'm one of those people who comes up with big dreams with little follow through on actually making them happen. Yes, I'm afraid to admit it, but if I am honest this is probably one of my biggest flaws:
going into things half planned. Strangely enough, I also think this one of traits that most of my friends and family are drawn to and like most about me. I know this is now rambling, but my sophomoric effort writing is mainly influenced right now by a Neil Young Autobiography that I'm reading. By the way, if I ever hit the big time I'm writing a book. Heck, I may just write a book anyway. I'm finding that I like writing as a way to express myself. I don't think anyone probably cares about that, but the one thing I've learned so far is
find what you like doing and do it! If Neil Young can do it after years of drug abuse so can I.
. . . OK, back to the story. So, lets start a blog! Why don't I let you in on some of the reasons why this probably was a bad idea:
- I can't type- Yes, sadly this is true. I don't how I missed this skill exactly, but like many things in my years 13-21, I coasted through and got by any way I could no matter what the sacrifice was. I somehow got high school credit in my typing class (and B at that I think?) and was flushed through the system. This lack of the skill of course proves to make the business of typing things down and posting them in a sensible time frame very difficult. This post for instance will take several hours of my life.
- I'm not Tech Savvy- I know I supposed to be a part of the somewhat younger generation that knows how to do all of this stuff?!? Reality: I still have a flip phone and basically use my macbook pro like a roll of cotton candy. Anyway, we decided to go with 1&1 Internet to host our domain and Word Press as the blogging program which were both very hard for me to use. To be fair both of these programs are very user friendly if you no what you are doing!
- I'm not on Facebook or Twitter- I'm currently in a self imposed ban of Facebook. I'm not trying to go on any crusade here or anything, in fact I left FB quietly. This is just something for myself that I feel is the best at the moment. I don't really understand Twitter or how to read it so I'm just staying away from that program!
- I'm horrible with Grammar- Again, why did I not pay attention to anything or anyone? If time travel is invented I'm going back to slap myself in the face at the following ages during critical times in my life: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, & 21
This list could go one, but for the 4 people that might actually read this I'm moving forward to some kind of conclusion.
This blog in it's original setting (www.bigbearbudgets.com) was supposed to inspire and show people how we save money and are paying down debt in the hopes that they may want to try the same thing. In the end, for what it was costing us to host vs. how much I actually used it, it did not add up. My wife gently reminded me that if we don't use it we shouldn't be using money on it. She of course was right as she tends to be in areas concerning our budget. I am ever grateful for her love and support in the half of this marriage that she provides. As The Adler Project I think it will still accomplish both of those original goals listed above. I'm not sure that I will post as many "how to" or "DIY" methods that we use to pay down our debt at the moment (if you want to know though, please email me), but will more focus on keeping everyone up to date on where we are with our debt and payments. Beyond that I plan to keep this thing going one post at a time, whatever they may be, until we reach zero. This blog in fact has become not only our public example, witness, and revelation of Christ in our lives, but a personal ministry to myself and my wife for how we work together as a couple and how we improve with our money individually.
The fact that we are paying down our debt like this is still a topic of discussion amongst our friends, families, and ourselves. It is not always popular, it is not always easy, and not always fun. If your in the same boat and are having trouble with the debt pay down process and what people think about it, then I submit to you the following two quotes from two very different individuals:
"I think basically to answer I don't care what other people think. It doesn't bother me. I mean, to spend time for me to think about what someone else thinks is counter to anything I've ever believed in my life. If I believe what other people think, then that means I value their opinion more than I value my own."
Chip Kelly, Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles
&
"It always seems impossible until its done."
Nelson Mandela
I need to check with my sport's fanatic friends and relatives, but I believe that I'm the only person in the world who has put Mandela and the spread together!
In the meantime we keep going. This is why The Adler Project will succeed:
- We will keep paying down our debt until it is gone.
- The blog will continue on Google's free service blogger.com (Even though this feels like shopping at Walmart, I have to say that the free Google program is way more my tech speed).
- I will learn how to type (If my father can keep learning in his 60's then I certainly can in my 30's).
- My writing will continue to suffer with the exception of an ever broadening vocabulary that is overly used like a bad high school paper.
- Not sure on the social media stay tuned!
Or maybe God just has a plan for us and all of this? Whew, until next time keep on rocking in the free world.
In Christ,
Bryant & Emily
